Prepare the Way
Prepare the Way
As the rush of the Holiday season begins, you may want to take a deep breath. While there is shopping, decorating, planning and parties to attend to, the Advent season is a time of preparation- not of the material world, but of our spirits. It is an opportunity to contemplate, meditate and reconnect with our spiritual lives as the light of the days grows short. This year, consider preparing a space, both inwardly and outwardly, in which the mystery of Christmas may enter. Whether it is lighting the advent candles every night with your family, singing carols, or making a regular habit of reading the scripture verses that tell of Christ’s birth, don’t miss out on the real joy of Advent-quietly waiting.
December 6th is the feast day of St. Nicholas. On the evening before, children the world over leave their polished shoes out for Saint Nicholas along with a note and a carrot for his donkey. In the morning they may find star cookies, oranges, candy canes, gold coins and other simple gifts. There are many stories of the life and deeds of St. Nicholas as well as stories, legends poems and traditions. I share with you a story of Bishop Nicholas and wish you a peaceful prelude to the great mystery of Christmas.
St. Nicholas
One
day, by chance, Nicholas heard about a rich man in Myra who lost all
his money when his business failed. The man had three lovely
daughters, all wishing to get married, but he had no money for their
marriage. Besides, who would marry them, he thought, since their
father is such a failure? With nothing to eat, the man in desperation
decided to sell one of his daughters into slavery. At least then the
rest of them might survive.
That night before the first daughter was to be sold, Nicholas, with a small bag of gold in his hand, softly approached their house, and, tossing the gold through an open window, quickly vanished into the darkness.
The next morning, the father found a bag of gold lying on the floor next to his bed. He had no idea where it came from. "Maybe it's counterfeit," he thought. But as he tested it, he knew it was real. He went over the list of his friends and business associates. None of them could possibly have given him this.
The poor man fell to his knees and great tears came to his eyes. He thanked God for this beautiful gift. His spirits rose higher than they had been for a long time because someone had been so unexpectedly good to him. He arranged for his first daughter's wedding and there was enough money left for the rest of them to live for almost a year. Often he wondered: who gave them the gold?
But by the end of the year, the family again had nothing, and the father, again desperate and seeing no other way open, decided his second daughter must be sold. But Nicholas, hearing about it, came by night to their window and tossed in another bag of gold as before. The next morning the father rejoiced, and, thanking God, begged His pardon for losing hope. Who, though, was the mysterious stranger giving them such a gift?
Each night afterwards the father watched by the window. As the year passed their money ran out. In the dead of one night he heard quiet steps approaching his house and suddenly a bag of gold fell onto the floor. The father quickly ran out to catch the one who threw it there. He caught up with Nicholas some distance away and recognized him, for the young man came from a well-known family in the city.
"Why did you give us the gold?" the father asked.
"Because you needed it," Nicholas answered. "But why didn't you let us know who you were?" the man asked again. "Because it's good to give and have only God know about it."
from http://www.cptryon.org/prayer/adx/adnick.html
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